Wednesday Morning Roundup

Miss Saigon, TV Junkie and research at the Amon Carter: All this in the Wednesday roundup!

CTA TBD

ACTING UP:Miss Saigon has gotten a bit of a reputation as being a special-effects dynamo – mostly from it spectacular helicopter scene. But the production at Casa Mañana goes easy on the effects. And from reading the reviews, it sounds as if the performers fill the void – particularly Daniel Rowan and Jennifer Paz in the leading roles. “Rowan, a North Texas native, is especially powerful,” Punch Shaw writes on dfw.com. “His performance is beautifully complemented by Paz.” Jan Farrington was also wowed by the show’s local lead. “As Chris, an American marine who’s seen too much of the war, Rowan’s warm onstage presence and gorgeous voice make it easy to see why young bargirl Kim (Jennifer Paz, who performed the role in the first national tour of Saigon) would fall for him in a heartbeat,” she writes on theaterjones.com. Catch it through Sunday.

A DIGITAL DEBUT: You probably know Michael Cain best as a founder of the Dallas International Film Festival. But Cain’s also a filmmaker himself, and he’s probably best known for a documentary he took to Sundance in 2006 called TV Junkie. The film received the Special Jury Prize and went on to play on HBO. It’s been kind of in hibernation since then, but starting this week, you can see it all over the Web. It’s now available on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube and other places. More details are in a news release.

OPENING HOURS: The Amon Carter Museum of American Art’s research library offers a wealth of resources for anyone interested in American art, photography, the West and history from the early 19th century to the present. It’s currently only open during the week, but that’s about to change. Beginning Sept. 7, the library will be open on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Stephen Becker produces the shows Think and Anything You Ever Wanted to Know for KERA. As part of the Art&Seek team, Stephen produces radio and digital stories, along with the podcast "The Big Screen," with Chris Vognar, movie critic of The Dallas Morning News. View more about Stephen Becker.